War Crimes Committed by Tamil Elamists Other than the LTTE - Part 1 - Culpable Ideologists

LTTE has become an easy scapegoat for all war crimes, the double genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Tamil Elamists. True, LTTE did commit most crimes but it was not the LTTE alone. Tamil Elamists actively participated in all these war crimes. Ideological, physical and propaganda support for these war crimes came from non-LTTE sections of Tamil Elamists. It is essential to investigate these crimes to stop their recurrence, punish the culprits, put the nation in order and deter the malicious false campaign launched by Tamil Elamists abroad to divert attention from real war crimes.

One striking fact about peaceful Tamil Elamists’ contribution to war crimes comes from the ideological front. LTTE was not a bunch of bandits. They were driven by a political ideology based on Tamil communal aspirations. Where did they get this ideology? LTTE was never an ideology factory. LTTE was merely made up of school dropouts, common criminals, under-aged fighters, suicide bombers and other similar elements. There was no one capable of providing it with it’s ideology within the outfit. Besides, the LTTE didn’t tolerate anyone telling it what to do. It had a strong conviction of what is to be done. Who injected this headstrong ideological conviction to the LTTE that led to mass murder, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, communalism and other similar violence?

Who Are Tamil Elamists?
Tamil and Sinhala communal feelings in politics emerged during the British rule of the country. However, the Sinhalese soon discontinued it in favour of national consensus. But Tamils, influenced by similar communal politics in Tamil Nadu, India, didn’t give up. In 1931 Tamil leaders demanded 50% representation in the legislature for 25% Tamil speaking people. That means only 50% representation for 75% Sinhalas. In other words Tamil leaders in 1931 sought three times more power for Tamil individuals than Sinhala individuals. Although the demand was cut down by British rulers with contempt, this insatiable greed for power defined Tamil politics. In 1944 All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) was registered as the premier political party of Northern and Eastern Tamils. At the 1947 election, it won the majority vote of Tamils in the North and the East. “Tamil” was its political ideology. This was the first time racism entered party politics officially. In 1949 Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), which interprets to Lanka Tamil Kingdom Party, was formed. Once again it was all about Tamil racism in politics. Therefore, the demand for a Tamil kingdom in Sri Lanka arose independent of the ‘Sinhala-only’ issue of 1956. It was merely an excuse to continue with the Tamil kingdom project. In 1976 this was renewed with the Vadukoddai Resolution. As a result, another racism based political party by the name Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was formed. Highly educated and senior politicians were behind all these moves and they are the ideologists behind the Tamil Elam project. LTTE merely followed the ideology created by them.

However, LTTE is not the only group to follow their ideology.

A Brief Comparison of Tamil Elam and Nazi Campaigns
The Tamil Elam campaign is identical to the Nazi campaign. Both aimed to create racially-pure nations for specific races; both vowed to follow national-socialism as the dominant political/economic ideology within, both campaigns showed incredible intolerance to persons of other communities, both followed a genocidal approach towards other communities, both campaigns glorified horrendous crimes previously unknown to mankind. The Vaddukoddai Resolution, like the Nazi ideology, resolved to create the Free Sovereign, Secular, Socialist State of Tamil Eelam. (http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/document/papers/vaddukoddai_resolution.htm) Just like in the case of the Nazis, the word, “secular” meant the opposite. Nazi “secularism” meant a “multiethnic” society as long as it had only the German race! In exact words, Tamil Elam “secularism” also means “plurality” as long as the entire society is comprised of Tamils of different religions!

The Vaddukoddai Resolution was an exact replication of Nuremberg Laws of 1935 to classify people of an established nation based on race and create a new state on this classification. Why was Nuremberg and Vaddukoddai chosen? Nuremberg had a sympathetic view of the ideology propagated by the Nazis for a long time and hence was a safe place to have the event just as SJV Chelvanayakam’s own Vaddukoddai electorate. Just as its Nazi predecessor, the Vadukoddai Resolution defined who can be a citizen of the Tamil nation and who cannot be a citizen. This classification was the guiding light of both the military under the Nazi leadership and the LTTE.

The ideological father of Tamil Elamism, SJV Chelvanayagam came to be known as “thanthai” Chelva. The word “thanthai” has the exact same meaning as Fuhrer in German! Hitler was called Fuhrer by the Nazis just the same way Chelvanayakam is called thanthai. Both refer to a fatherly figure leading a communal campaign.

Illankai Arasu Kachchi leaders vowed to “chase away” the Sinhalas from what they called “Tamil-only homelands”. They succeeded eventually. One big difference between the Nazi campaign and the Tamil Elam campaign is the separation of ideological leaders from those who carried forward their agenda. Nazis had unison of ideological and military leadership whereas Tamil Elamists had separate ideological and military leaders. Although Parkinson’s disease struck both Hitler and Chelvanayagam, it affected the latter very badly and didn’t live to see the fruit of his ideology. As a result Chelvanayagam didn’t get involved in the military campaign of Tamil Elamists whereas Hitler’s life was cut short by his involvement in violence.

Nazi campaign succeeded in chasing away or killing almost all the Jews in Germany. This has only one parallel in the whole world. That is the complete chase away and killing of Sinhalas from the North by Tamil Elamists.

Sinhalas are a small group of people numbering around the same as the Jews. They have their own language, religion, culture, traditions and history just like the Jews have their own. Sinhalas are the majority in Sri Lanka but are a regional minority in the South Indian region. Tamils on the other hand are the regional majority but a minority in Sri Lanka. Today Tamils live in each and every district (numbering 25) of Sri Lanka but Sinhalas, despite being the majority of Sri Lanka, are confined to only 20 districts.

According to the 1971 census, there were 20,402 Sinhalas in Jaffna. After the Vaddukoddai Resolution and resultant campaign of genocide against them, the number of Sinhalas fell to zero. Today the number of Sinhalas in the entire Jaffna district is zero. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_District). The same fate fell on Sinhalas in Batticaloa, Mulaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi districts as well. In other words, Sinhalas were entirely wiped out from five districts of the eight (8) districts of the North and the East that is claimed by Tamil Elamists to be the nation of Tamils and only Tamils. Apart from the Nazi genocide of Jews, nothing is comparable to this silent act of genocide by Tamil Elamists. However, Tamil Elamists didn’t stop at that. They went on to genocide Muslims too from the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mulaitivu and Mannar at a later stage. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_District)

This phased approach of Tamil Elamists coins with the Nazi campaign as described in vivid detail by Pastor Martin Niemöller. “They came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

First, Tamil Elamists went after political parties with secular ideologies and destroyed them in the North and Tamil areas of the East. UNP, SLFP and communist parties that formed ruling coalitions were rooted out in Tamil majority areas in the North and the East by Tamil Elamist communal parties including the ACTC, ITAK, TULF and Tamil National Alliance. Sadly, these Tamil communalist parties still dominate these areas. When peaceful and forceful means failed, violence was used. In 1975 Alfred Duriappa, who was a Tamil himself but rejected Tamil Elamism was killed in Jaffna.

Then Tamil Elamists went after the police, the public service and trade unions in the North and Tamil majority areas of the East. All anti-Tamil Elamists were forced to leave these services and got the positions filled by supporters. Scores were killed.

Then they targeted the Sinhalese, ethnically cleansing them out totally from five districts. Then they went after the Muslims, wiping them out totally from four districts. Then their attention fell on Christian clergy and there was no one to defend them. Then the unthinkable happened. A large number of Tamil Christian clergy supported the Tamil Elam movement.

These wide ranging ideological matters and direction were installed in the LTTE by Tamil Elam racist political leaders who dominated the Tamil polity in areas they referred to as ‘Tamil Homelands’. Sri Lanka must initiate war crimes investigations not into the LTTE which has been decimated, but against other Tamil Elamists, especially the ideological leaders who instigated, planned and prepared the infrastructure to commit war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Having survived the war, these criminals are working to revive violence, racism, subversion and non-co-operation. They are older than the LTTE to influence it, yet young enough to outlive the LTTE.

This is only a brief comparison of two identical ethno-nationalist projects that used extreme violence to achieve their goals. There are many more similarities between them.

May 18 - The Day the Civilised Vanquished the Uncivilised

V DAY MINUS 10 YEARS

It was Friday 17th September 1999. Laughter of villagers faded into the tranquillity of the night in remote Gongala village in Ampara District in Eastern Sri Lanka. HM Premasiri (29) went to bed late that night after a long pleasurable conversation with a large number of relatives and friends who had come to his place for a religious ceremony. Around two hours after midnight the serenity of the night was shattered by screams of men, women and children. About 75 Tamil Tigers and their accomplices, mostly women, brutally massacred 27 men, 17 women and 10 children to death. Tamil Tigers had plenty of guns but opted to make it as cannibalistic as they possibly could. Just one victim was shot with a revolver while the rest were killed with knives, axes and machetes. Most victims were hacked to death. Premasiri survived hiding under his bed. He could hear the hysteric laughter of Tamil Tiger female murderers and their civilian accomplices resembling what might be Satan’s laughter. For a moment he thought devils from hell have invaded the earth. When the morning came, the true horror of the attack became obvious. People found it difficult to attribute to humans. If anything came close, that was the horror female SS helpers including Irma Grese - known as the ‘Angel of Death’ - at Belsen and Auschwitz unleashed on unarmed civilians during WW2.

Despicable Tamil Elamists didn’t stop there. The political mouthpiece of the LTTE which is both the father and son of the LTTE, grabbed the opportunity to advance its ethnic-cleansing-for-Tamil-homeland agenda. Joseph Pararajasingham, an MP of the communalist TAMIL United Liberation Front (TULF), later the MP of communalist TAMIL National Alliance (TNA) justified the killing based on LTTE claims that an SLAF attack 2 days prior in Puthukudiyiruppu had killed 22 Tamil civilians. He was the only source that officially linked the Gongala civilian massacre to the SLAF attack, trying to whitewash the crime. In doing so Tamil Elamists (which includes both peaceful Tamil Elam supporters and the LTTE) sent out a powerful message - they want to ethnically cleanse the North East of every non-Tamil.

Those who heard, saw or read about subhuman acts of Tamil Tigers resolved to annihilate these uncivilised hordes from the face of the earth. While this was not the first barbaric attack of Tamil Tigers, it was certainly not the last.

V DAY 2009

After a period of illusion, Sri Lanka took on Tamil Tiger Terrorists in a well planned military manoeuvre in mid 2006 following another similar adventure by Tamil Tigers. After 33 months of intense fighting, Tamil Tigers were annihilated by gallant security forces. May 18th, 2009 became a memorable day not only for Sri Lankans but for all humans. It assumed universal significance because terrorism is the biggest threat to humans today and Sri Lankan security forces pioneered the method of wiping out terrorism.

LTTE terrorists were the most ruthless terror outfit ever to terrorise the world. The human bomb or the suicide bomb was effectively invented and reinvented by the LTTE. LTTE had more suicide bombers at its disposal than all the other terrorist groups combined. It became world’s only terror outfit to have an air force. LTTE had the largest arsenal of artillery among all terror groups in the world. If there is any terror outfit that killed national leaders of two countries, that is the LTTE. This is an achievement in terrorist terms, unmatched for over 17 years. To the horror of humanity, Sri Lankan security forces found submarines in the possession of Tamil Tigers which makes them the only terrorists to have them. Financially, LTTE was the second richest terror outfit annually collecting US$ 200 - 300 million. What’s more significant is all their funds came from developed countries.

Defeating such a colossal terror outfit is no mean task but Sri Lankan security forces achieved it with minimum civilian casualties. War on Terror that is raging around the world killed millions of people but still failed to rid terrorism. What’s more, War on Terror is fought by the richest and technologically most advanced nations. However, their lack of humanity is the main reason for continuing blunders. Sri Lankan security forces on the other hand put humanity first in all their military actions.

V DAY PLUS 1 YEAR

Although the war on terror was won, a bigger war looms ugly on the horizon. It must be fought with insight, clever propaganda, very long range reconnaissance/demolition operations, networking with friendly nations, and economic development. Establishing the rule of law, reducing corruption and safeguarding national and fundamental rights form the basis of it’s national aspect. Those who sacrificed life and limb must be looked after better than those who merely suffered from the war. However, these alone cannot save Sri Lanka as there is a more sinister campaign at work.

Blaming the LTTE alone for ethnic cleansing of Sinhalas and Muslims in the North and from some parts of the East is childish. Ethnic cleansing of non-Tamils was first conceived in the minds of communalist Ilankai TAMIL Arasu Kachchi leaders in 1949-1952. ITAK leader openly declared it on stages. Both LTTE and “moderate” communalist politicians, all of whom are supporters of Tamil Elam, call the ITAK leader “Thanthai” Chelva. His real name was Velupillai Chelvanayakam. The word “Thanthai” has the exact same meaning as “Fuhrer” in German. Only difference between the campaign to create a racially pure Tamil Elam and the campaign to create a racial pure Nazi Germany is that the former had a separation of the ideological leader and the actual executioner.

It is this racist separatism ideology that drove Tamil Tigers to commit extreme acts. Unfortunately they still continue their campaign. Have a look at TAMIL grievances, TAMIL aspirations, TAMIL homelands, TAMIL Congress, TAMIL United Liberation Front, TAMIL Arasu Kachchi, TAMIL Tigers, TAMILnet, etc. Honestly, aren’t these by definition racist? If in doubt, one should tap his/her conscience and ask this question. It doesn’t matter what supposedly created these, the fact is these are ultra racist demands and manifestations that must be avoided in all civilized societies.

Even after the end of the war, most Tamil voters in the North and the East voted for a racist political party that talks nothing but of racist demands. Is this not the plain truth?

We must show our racially deceived brothers and sisters, love, human dignity, compassion and guidance. We must help them not to go deeper into the dungeons of racism as demanded by communalist parties, but to overcome this vicious 63 year old racist bondage and 35 years of ethnic isolation.

Over 100,000 humans died in the war in all four quarters (security forces, LTTE, civilians and IPKF). Their lives must be celebrated in victory no matter what quarter they were in. Aren’t they all together, at last?

A solution is required to bring people of all races together. Communalist war wounds in war ravaged North and East can only be cured by multiculturalism, not by furthering mono-ethnic enclaves that created the war in the first place. Creating multiethnic settlements in the North and East should not be seen as something that will happen automatically. It must be deliberately initiated. This is the new battle. In order to have lasting peace, Sri Lanka must win this battle too.

අමතක නොකරන්න

ගිනි ගත් බිම් කඩක
සිර වුනු හද ගැස්ම
මරණයෙ කලුවරින්
නිදහස් කර ගන්න

ජීවිත පුද දුන්න
මිනිසුන්ගේ ලෙයින්
ලියැවුනු මාසයක
උණුසුම් හෝරාව
සිහිවන දින ළඟයි

අමතක නොකරන්න
මේ හැම මොහොතක ම
සුළඟේ හමා ඒ
දිවි දුන් විරුවෙකුගෙ
අවසන් හුස්ම පොද

යළි නින්නාද දෙයි
උන්ගේ විරු කෙරුම්

අසරණ පොඩි එවුන්
වියපත් මහල්ලන්
කර මත තබාගෙන
වෙඩි වරුසා මැදින්

කීයක් මියැදුනි ද?
කීයක් එකතැන් ද?
රකිනට ගොස් අනුන්

ජරපත් අදහසින්
මැස්සන් ඉහඳ ලූ
මිනිසුන් කියාගත්
ඇතමුන් ගැරහුවත්

හෙට දින යළි පිපෙන
දහසක් මල් කැකුළු
පතුරයි දස අතේ
උන්ගෙ ජීවන සුවඳ
නමින් මනුසත් කමේ

False and Naïve Expectations Can Ruin Hard Won Peace

Peace has dawned upon Sri Lanka. For the first time in 27 years Traditional New Year celebrations took place in an atmosphere of peace. First peaceful Independence Day, first peaceful Christmas and the first peaceful election were other firsts lately. Will peace last?

Answers depend on the sentiments in formerly war-torn areas. After the wipe out of the LTTE, violence is not a yardstick to measure the level of peace. But the voting pattern is. Has anything changed in the voting pattern of North-East Tamils in 2010? The answer is not much. Even the small change that has taken place cannot be attributed to a lasting and genuine factor. For instance armed paramilitary politico-military groups roam the streets of Jaffna District. Interestingly they only managed to win seats in the Jaffna District! It says a lot about the real reasons for their bettered performance. Displaced civilians cause another complexity. Only some displaced civilians were provided with facilities to vote. In another strange outcome, displaced civilians overwhelmingly voted for the government minister in charge of their welfare who was active in arranging them transport facilities on the election day!

These abnormalities clearly are exceptions than the norm of North-East voting pattern. If people were allowed to vote in an atmosphere of no IDPs and no armed paramilitaries, the result would have been different. In making long term assessments, these exceptions have to be taken out of the picture because IDPs will be soon resettled fully and armed paramilitary groups will eventually be forced to toe the line.

A clear, unbroken voting pattern

When these anomalies are taken out, a clear picture emerges that is the natural voting pattern of Tamils in the North-East ever since 1947. Unlike in other parts of the country, in North and the East, Tamil voters have always predominantly voted for racist political parties. This strange phenomenon is not unique to Tamils in Sri Lanka’s North and the East. It is also clearly visible in Tamil Nadu, India. Almost all other Indian states follow collective political ideologies.

e.g. secular nationalism, communism

However, racism seems to be the dominant political ideology of Tamil Nadu as it is in North and East Sri Lanka. Dravida Munethra Kazakham and All India Anna Dravida Munethra Kazakham are the dominant political parties of Tamil Nadu. Dravida is one big race that is made up of a number of Dravidian races including Tamil. North and East of Sri Lanka, and Tamil Nadu account for over 41 Tamil/Dravida political parties. Political ideology of these parties is Tamil/Dravida racism.

Since 1947, the following parties dominated Tamil politics of Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka in terms of voter numbers; All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, Tamil United Liberation Front and Tamil National Alliance.

Tamil votes at the 2010 General Election in the North and the East

If what the UPFA scored island-wide is a landslide, Tamil racist parties have won a landslide among Tamil voters in the North and East. But unlike the UPFA, Tamil racist ideology always won in the North and the East. Tamil voters’ percentage is assumed to be same as ethnic distribution of the district. Votes for Tamil racist ideologies are votes received by Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), Akila Ilankai Thamil Congress and Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal.

Trincomalee shows the highest percentage of 84% which is significant because the ITAK leader contested from the Trincomalee district. Jaffna and Vanni show low percentages because EPDP and aligned parties threw their weight around ably supported by their armed cadres. Voters’ turnout in these two election districts was low which helped this outcome.

National Security Implications

Political parties with racist or religious ideologies may they be Tamil, Sinhala or Muslim don’t go well with national security interests. Ethnic harmony and secularism are the best tools for maintaining national security. These parties not only stand in the way of ethnic harmony but openly preach racism and violence. ITAK has a long history of engaging in violence against ethnic Muslims and Sinhalas in the North and the East. Starting from 1949, ITAK carried out a number of apparently peaceful campaigns to win a separate state for Tamils including civil disobedience campaigns. However, due to the very racist nature of these campaigns they turned violent. 1958 riots broke out as a direct result of the highly racist and discriminatory “tar-brush campaign” of the ITAK where Sinhala letters were erased in all public places by applying tar on them which is a direct adaptation of the “tar-brush campaign” carried out by Tamil Nadu communalist politicians earlier against Hindi speaking people.

ITAK has again threatened civil disobedience campaigns unless their demands are granted.

It is wrong to call these “Gandhian ways” of peaceful protest. Unlike the ITAK, Gandhi never made racist demands. This type of action should be handled using force since it can arouse racial violence and is an insult to the good name Gandhi.

Communal political parties demand that security forces are withdrawn from the North East since the war has ended. If done, this can seriously jeopardize national security.

Fourth danger of communalist parties is that they act as secret promoters of separatism even when the LTTE has been wiped out. They, along with sections of the LTTE Diaspora can destabilize Sri Lanka and India. In the remote possibility of a referendum in the North East of Sri Lanka for separation, an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote would mean immense pressure on the island nation to honour their ‘democratic’ right.

However, racist political ideologies cannot be forcibly suppressed. This is especially so when Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour and the global defender of Tamil rights is heavily controlled by communal politics.

How to Face the Danger

The only democratic way to diffuse racism in politics is to ethnically integrate North East so as to make racist politics irrelevant. Success of it is seen from the election results of Trincomalee District. Although more than 80% Tamils voted for a communalist party, it lost thanks to large scale multi-ethnic settlement programs since Independence. Digamadulla is another example. Since the split from Batticaloa District, population diversity of the Digamadulla District has increased.

These proven peace building tactics should now be applied in the Northern Province.

Lousy political solutions without addressing the core issues of racism will create more trouble for the nation. Most suggested solutions will in fact empower racist political parties in a decentralized setting! That would be a total disaster regionally, nationally and internationally. This is the reason why the Northern Provincial Council has not been convened, almost a year after the war ended. A Provincial Council controlled by politicians with a racist ideology will pander into the highly active Tamil Elam campaign abroad.

Tamil Elamists should not be allowed to get peacefully what they couldn’t get in the battlefield. If danger to the nation is so grave that no other means would work, there should be no hesitation to use the military to sufficiently crush the rebellion. However, the smart thing to do is not to use the military at all. That can only be done with a process of mass ethnic integration in formerly war affected areas.

When should it start? Now. That’s because good times won’t last. While the time is right, maximum number of new multiethnic settlements has to be established in the North East.

Experimenting with untested solutions is equal to not having a solution at all. It is the noble duty of all peace loving Sri Lankans, not just patriots and nationalists, to compel the government to give a political solution based on multiethnic settlements in the North. This duty must be discharged for the sake of future generations to live in peaceful, multiethnic communities devoid of all chances of war, separation and racism. Peace loving people should not fall for crocodile tears of racist elements who will oppose multiethnic settlements in North East. Hidden behind these apparently meekly acts are the cruel intentions of racism. Anyone opposing any reasonable form of multiethnic settlements is a supporter of racism and should be treated as such. New laws are needed to punish those who don’t recognise the fundamental right of any Sri Lankan to live in any part of the island nation. And new laws should totally ban separatism and racist political parties that would divorce North East politics from Tamil Nadu politics. Adjusting the number of parliamentary seats based on new population figures is another requirement. Essential powers needed for counter-terrorism and counter-separatism now included in Emergency Regulations should be separately enacted with minimum hindrances to civilian life. Such laws should be operational by default without having to pass it in parliament month to month. Only other provisions of Emergency Regulations should remain needing parliamentary sanction monthly, if required to be implemented.

The Silent Revolution of 2010...

By Diyasena

With the results of the 2010 General election published, the governing United People's Freedom alliance (UPFA) has recorded an unprecedented victory in recent election history. When the results of the two annulled electorates are announced, and the national list allocations are completed, the UPFA is expected to get a massive 144-146 seats out of 225.

Mage Mathru Bhumiya Dinewa!

Epic victory

The UPFA victory eclipses the previous record for the highest number of seats obtained by a winning party (ie, the United National Party's 125 seats in 1989) under the proportional representation (PR) system of 1978. It also debunks the myth that strong governments cannot be formed under the PR system.

The number of seats obtained by the UPFA does not reflect the full grandeur of the victory. They carried 135 of 158 electorates (similar to the 5/6 victory of UNP in 1977). Their winning percentage of 60.4%, and margin of 1.8 million (against the aggregates of all other parties), are unprecedented as well. One might complain that the turnout was comparatively low. However this was to be expected after the presidential election, and compared to other democracies in the world, 55% is by no means a low turnout. Moreover, if one looks at the results carefully, it is apparent at roughly similar numbers of government and opposition supporters stayed home on election day, compared to the Presidential Election on January 26, 2010.

The victorious UPFA

As requested by the president, the people have given the UPFA a strong Electroral Mandate, thereby ensuring 6 more years of stable rule. The leaders of the government have to realize that this is the last election they can market the war victory for votes. Other issues will take center stage in subsequent elections:

1. The economy- The government will hopefully be able to reap in the benefits of the infrastructure developments and economic growth over the next six years. The peace dividend should filter down to the masses, who richly deserve it.

2. Corruption and thuggery- The UPFA voters themselves have voted out some of the corrupt and inefficient ministers of the previous government. However, some errant characters who are locally popular have been elected. The government should rein in these MPs, and project the image of a true people's government. With a strong government, the president has the luxury of appointing a small cabinet. The choosing of suitable and efficient ministers, as well as a capable prime minister, will be very important for the future of the UPFA government.

3. The Eelam struggle- Though the armed struggle was extinguished last year, the diaspora Tamils backed by western powers still plot and scheme to divide the island. Whilst countering these threats externally, the government must strive to eliminate the root cause of the problem through ethnic integration (ie, via strategic re-colonization, increasing contact and empathy between communities, and economic development).

UNP: A toothless opposition.

The UNP hurtled towards it's worst defeat since the PR system was introduced, and is expected to win only 58-60 seats. They won only 9 electorates, reminiscent of their rout at the hands of the SLFP in 1956. If the UNP is to make a comeback, a total makeover is necessary. It is unlikely that Ranil Wickremsinghe could ever lead the UNP to victory at an election. By not electing some of his cronies (Vajira Abeywardane, Sagala Rathnayake), the UNP voters have also sent their leadership message. Moreover, the so called 'Kepuwath Kola' generation of rural UNP-er are dying out (literally) leaving only the Colombo-centric supporters. Unless new leaders such as Sajith Premadasa, or Dayasiri Jayasekara, are given priority and leadership oppotunities, Sri Lanka risks becoming a one party state.

JVP: Saving face

Many of the readers may disagree, but the JVP has to a certain degree saved-face at this election. They are likely to win 7 seats, which is far better than the 1-3 they were initially projected to win. It seems, apart from their own hardcore cadre, about 200,000 Fonseka sympathizers voted for them as well. Thus, they have saved themselves from political irrelevance for another six years. Until such time their trade and student unions are dismantled, the JVP will continue to play a role in Sri Lanka's political landscape.

ITAK/TNA : The last throw of the dice..

Without any LTTE firepower to back them up, the ITAK(TNA)'s seats in the North and East were reduced from 22 to 14. Moreover, they polled less than 50% in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna, and less than 40% in the other districts they contested. In fac,t with 4000 or so more votes, the UPFA could have wrested victory from the ITAK in the Vanni and Batticaloa districts. With the new census to be conducted in 2011, the number of seats allocated to the North is expected to drop by about 4 (Jaffna -3, Vanni- 1), whilst Battticaloa would likely lose 1 seat as well. Therefore, coupled to the moderating influence of ethnic integration in future years, the influence of TNA is likely to be further diluted in subsequent elections. Therefore, they will be hellbent in their effort to preserve their mono-ethnic fiefdom, by agitating for a federal solution. We call upon the government to frustrate their communal and separatist designs at every turn.

Conclusion

The results of this election will greatly influence the destiny of Sri Lanka in the coming years. If the government lives up to it's great potential, the Silent Revolution of 2010 will far outshine the achievements of the 1956 and 1977 electoral revolutions. Let us hope that all goes well for our motherland, and that our children one day will proudly call themselves "Dedahas Dahaye' Daruwo!"

Separatist myth vs. facts: “Sri Lanka was never under unified rule during the time of the Sinhala kings”

Lies and damned lies

After the crushing defeat of LTTE terrorists last year, the overseas supporters of the terrorists have shifted into overdrive in spreading the outragoeous argument that Sri Lanka was never under unified rule during the time of the Sinhala kings. Whether it is LTTE's Tamilnet propaganda outlet last month(1) or supporters of separatism from days gone by, such as Dharini Rajasingham-Senanayake(2), the claim is that British unified the administration of Lanka for the first time in 1833, and, upon granting independence to the inhabitants of the island, handed this unitary state to a Sinhalese controlled government in the year of 1948.

We as patriots and defenders of integrity of our motherland should always be aware of the true facts with regards to the history of Sri Lanka. The history of the ancient period of Sri Lanka is the history of monarchical rule. Here is historian S. Pathmanathan on the subject of the Sinhalese monarchy(3):

An outstanding feature of the Sinhalese monarchy is its almost unbroken continuity lasting for nearly two thousand years and its close connections with Buddhist institutions. No dynastic state has ever had such a continuity and stability in the neighboring Indian subcontinent from where the culture and political ideas of the ancient Sinhalese were mostly derived. Nor could any of the kingdoms in some of the countries of South-East Asia-Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam — where Buddhism exerted a profound influence, lay claim to such a long continuity and historical experience. The long and unbroken continuity and stability in the political and cultural tradition of the Sinhalese kingdom (s) was partly the result of the protection, provided by the island's insularity, the island's manageable territorial dimensions and the physiographic features which permitted control over a major part of it from a single dynastic centre before the thirteenth century. Another contributory factor was probably the absence of social classes able to challenge dynastic authority

To examine this concept of territorial integrity and unified rule by Sinhalese monarchs we need to examine how the Sri Lankan state came to be formed during earliest period of its history, how it evolved, and the nature of it leading up to the arrival of European powers, the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British.

Early State Building

According to Mahavamsa, the story of man in Sri Lanka begins with the arrival there, sometime in the 5th century BC, of Vijaya the legendary founder of the Sinhalese. Beneath this charming exercise in myth-making lurks a kernel of historical truth – the colonization of the island by Indo-Aryan tribes from northern India(4). These settlements were established and developed in several parts of the island from about the fifth century BC. The earliest settlers were those on the west-central coast who pushed inland along the banks of Malvatu Oya and founded a number of riverbank settlements. Their seat of government was Upatissagama where the first ‘Kings’ of the Vijayan dynasty reigned. The settlers on the east coast would have moved inland along the Mahaveli River. Somewhat later, there was an independent band of immigrants who settled in Rohana in the south-east, on the mouth of Valave River. The settlers came in numerous clans or tribes. Among these clans were families of nobility, the Lambakannas, Moriyas, Kalingas, Tarachchas, Balibhojakas and others. By 250 BC, there is evidence of a recognizably literate culture in the main areas of settlements – a contribution of early Indo-Aryan settlers – even though the outlaying communities may have remained pre-literate(5).


According to historian K.M. DeSilva it is not possible to draw a firm conclusion on the process of political evolution that led to the emergence of a kingdom unifying the whole island under its sway. The inscriptional evidence points to a situation where Anuradhapura kingdom, which was founded by Pandukabaya, the third king of the Vijayan dynasty, as merely the strongest, among several in the northern plains and in the Malaya and Rohana regions. This structure had not changed substantially during the rule of Devanampiya Tissa, though he held a consecration ceremony, and assumed the title Devanampiya Tissa maharaja. In spite of this, other rulers on the island did not readily acknowledge his sovereignty. The influence he had in the southern kingdom of Rohana was minimal despite the establishment of the Kingdom at Mahagama by Mahanaga, his brother. This collateral branch of the royal house at Anuradhapura eventually unified Rohana and thereafter established control over the whole island as well. It took them a century and a half to achieve it. The key figure in the unification of the south was Kavantissa, during whose rule the authority of Mahagama began to be felt throughout Rohana. His son and successor Dutthagamani took the offensive against Elara, the Dravidian usurper of the northern kingdom, and established control over the whole island. It was, in fact, the first significant success of centripetalism over centrifugalism in the island history.(6)


The classical Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura

The kingdom of Anuradhapura, the classical Sinhalese kingdom, lasted nearly 1,500 years and the city of Anuradhapura lasted as long as the capital city. It was the capital of the island kingdom since the time of King Dutthagamani (161-137 BC) to the end of the 10th century, longevity unmatched by any other capital city in south Asia. The political history of the kingdom can be divided into three distinct phases or periods.

The first phase is the early Anuradhapura period, the kingdom’s first seven centuries to the reign of Dhatusena in the 5th century, the principle feature of which was the rise and consolidation of power. The middle period saw considerable instability, particularly in the 7th century, and the regular entry of Tamil mercenaries brought to the island by Sinhalese kings to help prop up their power, or by the aspirants to the throne.(7) The late Anuradhapura kingdom saw two centuries of political stability, the 8th and 9th centuries, followed by century of increasing stress and instability as the Sinhalese kingdom struggled to cope with external threats from south Indian kingdoms. Those threats became more formidable in the 10th century and culminated in the absorption, if not the kingdom itself, of at least most of it, under the Chola empire(8), while the great city of Anuradhapura ceased to be the capital city.


The Polonnaruva Kingdom

The expulsion of the invading Cholas from the kingdom happened after a long war of liberation and the restoration of a Sinhalese dynasty on the throne of Sri Lanka under King Vijayabahu I. The return to order and authority became solidified under King Parakramabahu I, the remarkable king who achieved such a tremendous amount of constructive achievement in administration, economic rehabilitation(9), religion and culture. After him the only Polonnaruva king to rule over the whole island was Nissanka Malla, who gave the country a brief decade of order and stability before the speedy and catastrophic break-up of the hydraulic civilization of the dry zone. The collapse of the ancient Sinhalese kingdom of the dry zone is one of the major turning points of Sri Lankan history.(10) The Magha’s invasion and the orgy of destruction in which his cohorts indulged is regarded as the main cause in the disintegration of Sri Lanka’s hydraulic civilization.


The Fragmentation of the Sri Lankan Polity and Arrival of the Portuguese

In the quest for safety against invasion from south India, Polonnaruva was abandoned after Magha’s rule and the next three kings ruled from Dambadeniya. One ruler made Yapahuva his royal residence and another Kurunegala. Sinhalese power again shifted from Kurunegala to the central mountains further to the south, a region that has never in the past been a center of civilization. It was in the 14th century that a kingdom was set up in Gampola on the Mahaveli River as its capital. In the second half of the 14th century, the fortunes of the Sinhalese reached their nadir. The writ of the Gampola kings appears to have run in Rohana as well as the western sea board(11), but for a short period in the 14th century, Jaffna under the Aryacakravartis was the most powerful kingdom on the island. They seemed poised for establishment of Tamil supremacy over Sri Lanka, but were foiled in this by the defeat inflicted by the forces of the Gampola kings in 1380(12).


The Jaffna kingdoms’ expansion southwards had been checked, but the Sinhalese had no reason to believe that this had been halted for good. The capital of the Sinhalese kingdom was moved once more, this time from the mountains to the west coast near Colombo, to Kotte. In 1411, Parakramabahu VI began what was to be a very long reign of fifty-five years founded what came to be called the Kotte kingdom(13). His greatest achievement was to check what seemed to be a well-nigh irreversible trend – the break-up of Sri Lankan polity. He was the first Sinhalese king since the days of Parakramabahu I and Nissanka Malla to bring the whole island under his rule, the last ever to do so. Within forty years of his death, the Kotte kingdom, weakened by internal disputes, faced the formidable challenge of the Portuguese in the first phase of Sri Lanka’s long encounter with western colonialism, an encounter that lasted till the middle of the 20th century.


Conclusion

It is not possible to say that Sri Lanka was ruled as united country for a straight 2500 years. No country in the world can boast of such an achievement. However, neither was Sri Lanka always ruled as multiple polities by multiple sets of kings, as implied by the Tamil separatist movement. Certainly, the territory under the ancient Sinhala kings did not remain constant. Some kings gained territory, others lost parts of it. There were bouts of civil war. Subordinate rulers tried to take advantage of this. But Sri Lanka has been viewed as a unified whole during ancient times. That unity may have been in some cases conceptual more than territorial. It may have included only a formal recognition of the sole consecrated ruler, but this signifies an understanding of the concept of territorial unity. It is up to us, the die-hard patriots, to counter this vile separatist claim whenever and wherever we encounter it.


Notes:
1. Myth of Sri Lankan state and the historic responsibility of Tamil leadership, http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31246
2. Dharini Rajasingham-Senanayake, Pravada vol 5 (2) 1997 P-17
3. S. Pathmanathan, Sri Lanka Journal of Humanities Vol 8(1) 1982 p 122
4. Basham, ‘Prince Vijaya and the Aryanisation of Ceylon’, pp. 172-91 and Mendis, ‘Pali Chronicles’, pp. 56-71
5. K. M. DeSilva, A History of Sri Lanka, pp. 8-9
6. K. M. DeSilva, A History of Sri Lanka, pp. 14-17
7. Kiribammune, ‘Tamils in Ancient and Medieval Sri Lanka’, pp. 14-15
8. On the Cholas and Sri Lanka see Spencer, ‘The politics of expansion’
9. Nicholas, ‘The irrigation works of King Parakramabahu I’, pp. 52-68
10. See Indrapala, ‘The Collapse of the Rajarata Civilization'
11. On Gampola kings see Abeyasinghe, 'The History of the Kandyan Kingdom', pp. 429-47
12. Kulasuriya, 'Regional Independence', pp. 136-55
13. Somaratne, 'Political History of the Kingdom of Kotte'

Ethnic Separatism, the great evil of late 20th century

Ethnic Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal or linguistic separation from the larger group with demands ranging from greater political autonomy to full political secession and the formation of a new state.

Sri Lanka Coastguard and the Greatest Challenge before the Nation

March 4, 2010 is a very special day for Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan capital changed from the North Central towards the South West since Polonnaruwa fell in 1215 following Kalinga Magha’s invasion. This exposed the North, North-East, North-West and the East to outside invasion and trespassing. As a result, a very large number of people from Tamil Nadu came to Sri Lanka. To make matters worse, since 1505 to 1948 Sri Lanka’s Maritime Provinces were under European colonialists and they paid no regard to Lankan borders. Even mythical tales of an ancient Tamil kingdom in Sri Lanka don’t go beyond 1215 suggesting the enormous threat that emerged since Lankans gave up defending their North-East sea boundaries. Interestingly the landmass claimed as ‘Tamil homelands’ in Sri Lanka are areas closest to Tamil Nadu clearly suggesting strong Tamil Nadu influence and creation of the Tamil separatist movement. Even after Independence illegal migration from Tamil Nadu continued. Illegal migration was identified as the biggest threat to national security and national economy in the 1950s and remained so until late 1970s.

Scientific reasons for this are found in the disparities in the economy and population density. GDP per capita (nominal 2008) for Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu are $2,020 and $1,105 respectively. The difference is a huge 83% or $915. Population density of Tamil Nadu is a staggering 480 persons per square kilometre whereas it is 304 in Sri Lanka. The difference is 56%. These two factors drive poor people in Tamil Nadu to illegally migrate to Sri Lanka. At one point Tamil population excluding Muslims was over 26% of the population threatening to exacerbate existing problems.

There is another hidden dangerous development. As time passes Sri Lankans naturally integrate with each other and this harmonises the society. However, unhindered influx of people from Tamil Nadu reverses this process of natural integration by artificially and unsustainably increasing the Tamil population. This is evident from the censuses of 1971 and 1981. Though illegal immigrants were despatched in 1964 and 1974 back to Tamil Nadu, a large number of them managed to evade it. Sinhala and Muslim population growth rates from 1971 to 1981 were 20% and 26% respectively whereas the Indian Tamil population decreased by 30%. However, ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ showed a massive increase of 33%. Surely this cannot be a natural increase. It is the result of ‘Indian Tamils’ becoming ‘Sri Lankan’ Tamils.

The war saw the emigration of 1.3 million Tamils. Though unintended this opened up better avenues for ethnic integration. It also reduced the bargaining power of racist political parties such as the TULF, TNA, ACTC and ITAK. Unless the borders are tight, the benefits of demographic changes that naturally eased tribal demands and aspirations over the past 30 years will not help Sri Lanka. It is a must in this regard to safeguard the coastline.

Those who are citizens of this country at the moment are equal citizens of Sri Lanka like any other; however, there should be no room for any more illegal immigrants. Major tasks of the Sri Lanka Coastguard would be to deter, prevent and detect illegal immigration from Tamil Nadu. Curbing illegal migration out of Sri Lanka will also be a task. Australia and Italy suffer unbearable influxes of Tamil illegal migrants from Sri Lanka. As such they would be keen to contribute to this project. It will benefit both parties.

It didn’t take long for drug dealers and illegal importers to exploit the illegal immigration channel between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. By the early 1970s this illegal channel had grown into a multi-million rupee illegal import industry. Criminals also used this channel to escape Sri Lankan authorities. Before long, the Tamil separatist movement had detected this as a gold mine to launch their armed uprising. A very large number of guns, ammunition, bombs and other war material found their way to Sri Lanka’s north. It is not rocket science that an effective navy would have put a complete stop to the LTTE. LTTE leaders travelled to and from Vanni to Tamil Nadu while Tamil Nadu leaders travelled to Vanni without any fear. This fuelled the concept that ‘Tamil Elam’ and Tamil Nadu are a grand nation unhindered by Sri Lanka and India. Peaceful Tamil Elam circles refer to this as ‘Tamil demographic contiguity’. At one point LTTE could muster its control over 66% of Sri Lankan coastline and resources. After a long battle Sri Lankan claimed it’s coastline in 2009. Hard fought territorial victories must be protected. The Tamil Elam movement although homeless, is not dead. It is taking its time to launch the next round of terror. Sri Lanka Coastguard (SLC) along with the security forces must put up a formidable frontline against these elements.

Although coming under the Ministry of Defence, SLC will be manned by civil officers. Their tasks are not confined to defence. Preventing illegal fishing/gathering pearls in Sri Lankan waters is also a task that can be supported by the SLC. Protecting other Sri Lankan economic interests closer to shore will also fall on it. Although piracy is not common around the waters of the island, there is a strong possibility of it emerging as shipping volumes increase. SLC must keep a close watch over signs of trouble and swiftly move in with the navy to crush all attempts to introduce piracy in presently safe waters around the country.

If efficiently carried out, the tasks of the SLC will be able to deliver this once peaceful and prosperous nation from a 800 year old vicious cycle of ethnic disharmony, threats to sovereignty and violence. Severing unwanted, unchecked and non-state links with Tamil Nadu is the stepping stone to lasting peace.

Arrested! Fonseka's Follies Finally Earn Him Legal Retribution

No Sri Lankan Patriot wanted it to come to this, but Gen. Sarath Fonseka had not learned this basic principle of survival: When immersed nose deep in mud, the wise keep their mouths closed!

Gen. Fonseka will have the time to ponder this truism, as he contemplates the errors of judgment that led to his precipitous fall from grace from being, perhaps, the third most admired man in Sri Lanka to one of the most vilified, in a brief period of nine months. World history abounds with such instances of foolish men of unbounded ambition destroying themselves when they loosen their grasp on honor, duty and patriotism.

Colombopage had this to say today (February 08, 2010) about Gen. Fonseka's arrest:

General Fonseka has been arrested on charges of committing military offenses during his time in the Army," the newly appointed military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said in an official statement to the Government Media Unit. He did not elaborate on the specific offenses.

Director General of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle, said Fonseka would face charges in a military court of conspiracy against the government.

.....

The government has accused General Fonseka of plotting to assassinate the President and overthrow the government by a coup. The government has arrested over 50 of his loyal retired military officers on planning the coup. General Fonseka denies all government's accusations against him.

However, a BBC report said earlier in the day the General had threatened to divulge the military secrets in response to alleged war crimes against the Sri Lankan military during the final phase of the war against the LTTE.

.....

Early in his presidential campaign in an interview to a Sunday weekly, the opposition candidate accused the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering the Army's 58 Division leader to kill the senior LTTE cadres who were attempting to surrender with white flags.

He later retracted the statement saying the paper misquoted him but the government and the media said the retired commander betrayed the nations and the damage to the country and the military had been done by the General's statement for political gain.

According to The Asian Tribune the main charges, read out to Gen. Fonseka at the time of his arrest, were

• Politicking whilst in uniform,

• Conspiring against the Commander-in-Chief whilst in Service,

• Harboring more than 1,500 deserters whilst on Service,

• And, corrupt practices in relating to military procurements.

We trust that the Government has all of the necessary evidence to support these charges, and that they will promptly release him if the evidence available cannot stand up to legal scrutiny. However, what we know of Gen. Fonseka's activities to date since the end of the Eelam War in May, 2009, as reported in the press and elsewhere, leads us to believe that Gen. Fonseka will be convicted in a court of law, and will spend a significant portion of his life behind bars.

We take no joy in the downfall of one we considered a war-hero, but we firmly believe that those who betray their country by deed and word for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, must be held ACCOUNTABLE, if only to serve as an example to deter others from VIOLATING the Law of the Land, and UNDERMINING the National Security of the Motherland.

Let ALL those who conspire to betray the Motherland, and violate Sri Lanka's laws with impunity take note: You will no longer will be allowed to run free; you will be held accountable for your actions! You can RUN, but you will not be able to HIDE! Therefore, CEASE and DESIST, in your own interest.

Happy Independence Day PATRIOTS! 62-Years Young and Millions to Go!

NAMO NAMO MATHA

Sri Lanka matha,
Apa Sri Lanka,
Namo namo namo namo matha!
Apa Sri Lanka,
Namo namo namo namo matha!

Sundara siri bharini,
Surandi ati sobhamana Lanka,
Danya dhanaya neka mal palaturu
Piri jaya bhumiya ramya.
Apa hata sapa siri seta sadana,
Jeewanaye' matha!
Piliganu mana apa bhakti puja,
Namo namo matha!
Apa Sri Lanka,
Namo namo namo namo matha!

Oba we' apa vidya,
Oba maya apa satya,
Oba we' apa shakti,
Apa hada tula bhakti.
Oba apa aloke',
Apage' anuprane',
Oba apa jeewana we',
Apa muktiya oba we'.

Nawa jeewana demine',
Nitina apa pubudu karan matha,
Gnanya wirya wadawamina ragena,
Yanu mena jaya bhumi kara.

Eka mawakage' daru kala bawina,
Yamu yamu winopama,
Prema wada sama bheda durara da,
Namo namo matha!
Apa Sri lanka,
Namo namo namo namo matha!
Apa Sri lanka,
Namo namo namo namo matha!

English Translation (Not Exact):

WE SALUTE THEE, MOTHER

Mother Lanka we salute Thee!

Plenteous in prosperity, Thou,
Beauteous in grace and love,
Laden with grain and luscious fruit,
And fragrant flowers of radiant hue,
Giver of life and all good things,
Our land of joy and victory,
Receive our grateful praise sublime,
Lanka! we worship Thee!

Thou gavest us Knowledge and Truth,
Thou art our strength and inward faith,
Our light divine and sentient being,
Breath of life and liberation.
Grant us, bondage free, inspiration.
Inspire us for ever!

In wisdom and strength renewed,
Ill-will, hatred, strife all ended,
In love enfolded, a mighty nation
Marching onward, all as one,
Lead us, Mother, to fullest freedom!

Wimal Weerawansa Reveals Fonseka's Follies

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A new round of defamation

Another round of defamation begins [just a random pick from my facebook, where there are more than hundred similar articles visible]

There have been several types of lunatics floating in academic and political arena. They are categorized into:

- Socialists [Notably Trotsky clan]
- Anarchists
- Liberals [extreme]
- Rights activists
- Idealists
- Free Media Activists
- Anti War extremists
- etc

Each of these classify for a lunatic as they expect/fight for something beyond human capacity to provide or achieve. Also they blindly and ritually fight for their demand w/o seeing the bigger picture and the possible chaos that may arise in getting it and after getting it. Thirdly they seem to follow imaginary idols which, mostly countries, do not even follow the key ideal these ppl seek for.

20 yrs ago they were pure lunatics. Penniless idiotic laugh lot - bun and plain tea revolutionists in the back cafeteria.

And then came the next force. The deliberate rabble rousers whose only aim is to destroy the nation. These ppl do not classify for lunatics as they do not follow a theory, do not do it blindly, instead deliberately and intentionally doing evil, for the advantage of their race, religion or country [or any other]. They appear in many forms, diplomats, missionary, INGO, International Community, Lending Organizations, Aid agencies, vendors, business entrepreneurs, advisers etc etc.

Inevitably prior fused into latter, for personal benefit and to find a way to their impossible goals. It was a life line thrown at the penniless lunatics. A path to get ultra luxury SUVs for the bun and plain tea ideologists. And in the process fulfill their goals or take a direct shot at anything that stands in their way hence fulfilling the revenge of every kind.

Such fusing caused the joint operations such as Ground View. Even X group, Handagama movies, Wikara bahu politics etc are realizations of this fusing. If you look at most low level NGO workers they are previous ideologists today working for the agenda of the rabble rousers, internally willing to achieve their ideal dreams. And their bosses are none other than those who wanna use the dreams of workers to fulfill goals of sponsors in order to take the hefty commission.

Today there is a vast amount of web sites, movements, university groups [hatching grounds], professions and a lucrative trade in formation. It is not represented equally in society, by poor gunapala, mohomed and sellayiyas, shown by the little number of votes they recieve in any election. Yet the noise is loud, for money is poured and ppl are perfectly brain washed.

They usually target state, president, culture, prominent races/religions/social groups, national symbols, social values, conventions, and probably every good thing that people enjoy in life. They cry for separation, anarchy, mad bull freedom, social wilderness, lack of culture, crowning homosexuality [I have nothing against Homosexuals, but it does not need extra discussion], minority rights, women's rights blah blah blah, simply anything they can use as a weapon in attacking the above targets.

It does not mean that they should be eliminated. Every segment of society is doing a part for the future progress of society. None is absolutely accurate in their vision yet the collective vision guides them to somewhere between good and bad. What matters is the contribution of each element, natural equilibrium and coherence. What breaks them is the influence of external forces. Today these whiner groups receive an immense attention and boost from external evil elements and their usually destructive actions are harming most systems, breaking away the social equilibrium. And it nurses every form of evil, and notably the separatist and terrorist forces. This is where the matter becomes significant. [Note that this para was written in a second review, and I would like to thank SY for pointing out the need]

Most ppl are wrong in determining that tamil tigers are the prime crop of theirs. Nop, Tamil Tigers are just a by product. Conspiracy is of multiple folds. Even if tigers give up, these elements won't. They'll pick the next most appealing topic to attack the state. And of course drive their super luxury SUVs as a result of it.

It is a matter of eternal existence of infinite athmas. In the new beginning after the election, they have revved up their engines for their next goal. Game is on. New round of defamation begins.

And the only solution is control, there is no way one can cure a brain gone this insane.

Me' Jayagrahika Dawase' "Ayu Bo Wewa Maha Rajaneni"!

To the ALWAYS FAITHFUL Patriots,

A Heartfelt Tribute in Gratitude!

Semper Fidelis, Patriots of Lanka

By Ananda-USA


Our Motherland, resplendent Sri Lanka,
Hallowed be thy name!
Thy children flock today to vote,
To preserve thy immortal flame!

The Lion Flag flutters proudly aloft,
To remind us this freedom's day!
Our duty to keep thee, safe and strong,
As our forefathers did yesterday!

A Mahinda Rajapaksa by deed and word,
Strode forth boldly to eternal fame!
To lead his people to a safer world,
When all others retreated in shame!

In Praise of Patriotism

This victory was achieved, because President Mahinda Rajapaksa spoke to the Patriotism inherent in Sri Lankan hearts and minds.

That overcame the traditional "Split the Sinhala Vote" strategies of Anti-National Forces, and upset all of their careful calculations.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa government raised hope, pride and confidence in the ordinary people of Sri Lanka, that they can again become masters of their own fate; that nothing is beyond their capabilities to grasp and achieve.

The MR government demonstrated in the few years they held power, that we sons of the soil of Sri Lanka can TAKE COMMAND of our own problems and SOLVE THEM better than the foreigners who condescend to preach to us solutions that fit their self-serving agendas.

It is that sense of CONFIDENCE IN OUR OWN ABILITIES to achieve, that he infused in the hearts and minds of the people of Sri Lanka, through winning the Eelam war decisively, protecting Sri Lanka with the assistance of new global allies, undertaking a massive programme of infrastructure development not seen in Sri Lanka since the days of Prakramabahu the Great, and painting a vision of future progress and prosperity, that made the difference.

That vision, spelled out in the Mahinda Chintana, will be realized in the years ahead only if we hold together to preserve this able and tested leadership at the helm of this country, that won this massive election victory today.

It is because we Patriots collectively recognized the CRITICAL IMPORTANCE of EMBEDDING and SUSTAINING Patriotism in the hearts and minds of EVERY SINGLE Sri Lankan, that we undertook to create websites such as SriLankaPatriots, SriLankaDefenceForum, NobelPeacePrizeForSriLanka, and LankaWeb, among great many others.

There are those who make fun, for overt and covert reasons, of our collective Patriotism as mere chest-beating. Just ignore them, for Patriotism in the defense of truth, justice, honor and duty to your people is supremely ennobling, and it pays rich dividends in the protection of your country as you see today.

Stable governance of Sri Lanka by National Deshapremi Forces will remain essential to preserving the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, and fostering its economic progress in the future, as Sri Lanka's enemies continue to undermine it with renewed zeal.

As we see in this Presidential Election, EMBEDDING and SUSTAINING Patriotism in the Hearts and Minds of ordinary Sri Lankans is the KEY to attaining that goal of a stable and efficient Deshapremi National Government.

Helping to maintain that Patriotism will be our continuing challenge as Patriots, where ever we are, in whatever way we can.

Let us March Onward then .. to a LANDSLIDE VICTORY in the General Election in April, 2010!

Jayawewa!


Oh! Beauteous Lanka! Thou Art Our Ratna Deepa, Janma Bhumi!

Ratna Deepa Janma Bhumi
Lanka Deepa Vijaya Bhumi
Me' Ape' Udaara Wu
Mathru Bhumi-yayi
Mathru Bhumi-yayi

Repeat Chorus

Aadi Sinhale' Ae' Vira Meemuthun Layin
Saara Wu Udaara Wu
Mathru Bhumi-yayi
Mathru Bhumi-yayi

Maanikyase' Pologabee' Nidhana Vee
Aththe' Ae' Abheetha Du Puthun
Jathiye' Naamayen Sangrama Bhumiye'
Jeewithe' Puda Heluu Lay Kandai

Chorus

Sindhupamana Wavu Thala Mathin Adee'
Padma Renuwen Sugandha Vee
Ran Karal Namaa Hamaa
Sith Prabhodayen Puraa
Enne' Un Helu Prana Vayuwai

Chorus

Ganga Tharanga Raawa Dee Ridee Vanin
Mal Pipee Kolen Kole' Hapee
Gayana Karanne' Aakasaye' Nagee
Virayange' Ae' Yaso Geetha-yayi

Chorus

Aadi Sinhale' Ae' Vira Meemuthun Layin
Saara Wu Udaara Wu
Maathru Bhumi-yayi
Maathru Bhumi-yayi

Mission Accomplished

Mahinda Chintanaya to Promote National Interest through Electoral and Constitutional Reforms

By Dr. Nath Amarakone
January 20, 2010
Sri Lanka

Former Permanent Secretary,
Founder President, Organization of Professional Associations (OPA),
General Secretary, Eksath Lanka Maha Sabha,
President, Citizens Solidarity Front and National Integration Front.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his manifesto seeking re-election for the second term of office as President of Sri Lanka has come out with a number of important proposals for Constitutional reform.

As a veteran politician and a representative of the people in Parliament for a period of about 40 years, he has identified the shortcomings of the legislature, and has proposed to

1. Re-establish the Electorate MP system in place of District MPs,

2. Re-introduce a Senate as a part of Parliament,

3. Introduce changes to the Office of the President, and

4. Interlink Village level Jana Sabhas with Regional level Pradeshiya Sabhas, and Provincial level Palath Sabhas with the National level Parliament on the basis of promoting National (Deshapremi) Interests as opposed to Anti-National (Deshadrohi) Interests.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has defeated LTTE terrorism militarily over the last four years, and is now seeking the mandate of the people, including those in the North who were prevented from voting at the last election for a second term of office. His concern to stabilize the country, and launch an ideological revolution to establish National (Deshapremi) Interest in the National Conciousness is most relevant to rid the country of neo-colonial interference preying upon anti-national sentiments and ethnic susceptibilities.

He has identified the necessary changes to the Constitution to allay the fears of ethnic groups manipulated by foreign powers who have been interfering in the internal affairs of our country. Similar attempts to exploit inter-party rivalries has brought about disaster in many countries of the third world. The attempt at tinkering with the existing Constitution merely to shift power from the President to the Prime Minister, as advocated by opposition factions, is a mere camouflage to play for time and confuse the masses.

Let us examine the proposed reforms in the light of the mistakes of the past sixty years of poor governance.

Governance in Sri Lanka: A Historical Perspective

The Soulbury Constitution, introduced to our country at the time of Independence, comprised two chambers in our national legislature similar to the Westminster Parliamentary System. They were, the Elected House of Representatives with 101 Members of Parliament (MPs), and a Senate comprising 30 nominated Senators. All bills presented in Parliament had to be adopted by both Houses to receive the assent of the Head of Government before becoming Law.

Of the 101 MPs , 95 were elected to represent electorates covering about 80,000 people each, while 6 seats were reserved for unrepresented interests, including ethnic groups. The elected MPs campaigned at elections under registered political parties, or even as independent candidates, and were elected on the basis of first-past-the-post.

The MPs enjoyed the right to dissent with their party if the interests of his electors in his electoral constituency warranted it. Usually, these candidates were well established patrons of the locality who depended on their personal popularity in the electorate to get elected. The expenditure on elections was generally low as the candidate needed little introduction to the people of the area. In any case, they were obliged under the law to divulge the election expenses to the Election Commissioner who had established certain norms. Generally, there was no need for these candidates to amass vast funds for elections, and the elections were relatively free of corruption.

The Senators were nominated by the Elected House from among persons of eminence, such as professionals from commerce, administration, banking, engineering, medicine, agriculture , management, labor trade unions, and religious groups. These Senators were expected to enhance the quality of the Parliamentary debate. However, these noble sentiments, spelled out in the Constitution by the founders, were largely not realized. Sometimes, candidates defeated at elections, and rejected by the people, were nominated to the Senate. Eventually, the Senate was abolished on 1971 by a bill passed in the House of Representatives. The overt reason advanced by the movers of this bill was that the Senate was responsible for delays in passing legislation.

In 1972, the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was adopted, doing away with the Senate, and entrusting their executive powers to the Cabinet of Ministers. These included powers to make appointments to state services, grant promotions, implement disciplinary action on state officers, etc. This initiated, and exacerbated, politicization of the entire state service. The Statutory Commissions set up under the Constitution such as the Public Services Commission, the Judicial Services Commission, the Local Government Services Commission, etc. became ineffective as the Cabinet of Ministers exercised total power in the state sector. Thus, the Public Services were politicized, opening the flood gates of corruption in the state sector.

The Organization of Professional Associations (OPA), formed in 1974, had pointed out the anomalies resulting from appointing Elected Members of Parliament to executive portfolios. A number of senior professionals, occupying high posts in the state sector, joined me in this exercise. However, without any nexus with the entrenched power of the state, the voice of the OPA was a feeble cry without impact in the public eye.

To make matters worse, J. R. Jayawardena, after his electoral victory in 1977 by a resounding majority, proceeded to amend the Constitution to make way for the Office of an Executive President, incorporating all the powers of the former Cabinet of Ministers, and requiring District MPs to be elected on a preference vote system. Thus, the accepted principle of an MP as a representative of the electorate was undermined and eliminated.

J. R. Jayawardena appointed himself to the post of the Elected Executive President, and declared all MPs to be District MPs under the amended Constitution. Thereafter, they could be replaced by nominees of the party, following rules applicable to District MPs. He even required all MPs of the government to sign undated letters of resignation, which he kept in his possession so that any deviant could be replaced at his will and command.

This process led to much dissatisfaction among both politicians, and the members of public they had previously represented. The preference vote system killed the very concept of an MP as a representative of the people in a local area. The net effect was an erosion of confidence in the electoral process. It was the party in power that mattered, and the leader of the party virtually became a dictator. Democracy was practiced only in breach of all norms of representation of the electors by the elected, and governance became the rule of the leader, for the leader, by the leader. Even Prime Minister R. Premadasa in the J. R. Jayawardena government felt emasculated, and quipped that he had even less authority than a peon in his office.

Thus, the practice of democracy in the country deteriorated. In the subsequent period the Sinhala youth in the South resorted to violence against a political system they felt was unresponsive to their needs. A major insurrection led by the JVP, in 1987-89 , resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 youth. The internal divisions weakening the Sri Lankan state, now apparent to all, encouraged foreign nations to attain their own agendas by egging on the Tamil youth of the North and East to rebellion; training and deploying them as an instrument for carving out a separate state of Eelam, and bringing Sri Lanka to heel. Using assassination and murder inflicted on their own people, and other Tamil separatist groups, as a weapon to enforce compliance, the LTTE emerged as the dominant separatist terror group. It created a Tamil Diaspora in foreign countries, largely by promoting illegal immigration, as a cornerstone of their strategy to fund and gain international support in the struggle for Eelam. This course of action gave rise to a militant terrorist movement that held Sri Lanka hostage for period of over thirty years.

During this period, Ranil Wickremasinghe, who came to power in 2001 as Prime Minister, came under severe pressure by Norway and other Western powers to compromise with the LTTE, and sign a Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), conceding to terrorists the right to govern a territory amounting to over one third of the land area of the country, and two thirds of its coastal belt. This allowed the LTTE to hold sway over the entire population of the North and East of the country, as a captive enslaved constituency without democratic rights.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was elected to the Presidency in 2005, had to renegotiate the CFA signed by Ranil Wickremasinghe when the LTTE demanded complete separation of the North and East territory as a new nation of Tamil Eelam. This demand was rejected by President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was compelled ultimately to launch a war to liberate the population living in the areas conceded under the CFA to the LTTE, and to reunify the nation. This took three years, incurring the death of almost 60,000 people. Over a million citizens of Sri Lanka living in these areas were liberated from terrorist rule, in 2009.

The Norwegian and other Western powers, who had a variety of vested interests in supporting the LTTE, attempted to save the terrorist leaders in the last stage of the war, to enable them to continue the war, and extend it indefinitely. Having failed in this effort, they are now busy undermining President Mahinda Rajapaksa by threatening to take the military leaders, who saved the country from terrorism, to a UN War Tribunal as war criminals.

This short history identifies the deficiencies in Sri Lanka's democratic system of government in protecting and preserving its National (Deshapremi) Interests, and the consequences of those deficiencies to the nation and its people.

Projected Constitutional Reforms

There have been many Parliamentary Committees who have examined new proposals for Constitutional reform to undo the ill effects of the Executive Presidential system, and the District MP system. So far, none of them have come out with firm proposals. Some have recommended the abolition of Executive Presidency, while others recommended a reduction of its powers and privileges. Some have advocated a return to the Donoughmore system. The Mahinda Chintanaya - Futurist Vision manifesto presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa expects to take up these matters with all political parties in Parliament, to make a final decision to bring about desirable changes in the National Interest.

The manifesto points out the need for unity in operation of the local government system. It has proposed the formation of Gam Sabha in every Grama Sevaka division in order to integrate the village polity, and promote their participation in village level activities devoid of political differences. This is expected to eliminate corruption and misuse of funds spent on village-level development.

The Gam Sabhas are to elect representatives to the Pradeshiya Sabhas, or Urban/Municipal Councils. Such representatives would have no political leanings, and the representatives of the Gam Sabha would be elected to the Pradeshiya Sabha on the basis of merit rather than political affiliation or agenda. In support of this concept, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has cited the Indian example of the Panchayat system.

The Provincial Council system introduced in the 13th Amendment to the National Constitution will be reviewed in consultation with all interested stake-holding parties.

The Senate as a part Parliament is to be revived. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appealed to the nation to adopt a national approach in politics, and to join his government to work in the best interest of the nation as a whole. He has already brought into the government many MPs from opposition political parties, and has offered them Ministerial portfolios, demonstrating his willingness to be pragmatic and realistic. He has appealed to them to be patriotic, rather than be manipulated by foreign interests for personal gain.

In this connection, I note that the emphasis of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on National (Deshapremi) Interest parallels the advocacy of National Interest Sectors linking village level government to the highest level of governance, as an alternative to political parties, that was proposed in the National Solidarity Charter in 1995 by a group of professionals in the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA). The current trend in forming political parties based on class, caste, religion and ethnicity has been the curse of Sri Lankan politics. I hope that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will consider National Interest based on Professions associated with the Economic and Social Sectors of the country, as proposed in the National Solidarity Charter (1995), as an alternative means of implementing the Mahinda Chinthanaya - Futurist Vision manifesto. In this way, those who would disregard National (Deshapremi) Interest can easily isolated from the national ethos as Anti-Nationals (Desadrohis), and be prevented from acquiring the power to undermine and degrade the nation.

The National Interest Sectors suggested in the National Solidarity Charter (1995) are:

1. The Professional Sector, comprising existing professional bodies and new associations and institutions to be recognized in the future when new professions emerge and are recognized,

2. The Religious Sector, comprising representatives Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Islamic bodies,

3. The Consumer Sector, comprising consumer societies representing different consumer groups such as food, education, health, finance, security, social welfare, etc.

4. The Trade Union Sector, comprising major labor trade unions recognizes by the Commissioner of labor, and

5. The Business Sector, comprising Trade Chambers, Investment Chambers, Finance Chambers, Consultancy Chambers, etc.

National Interest Sector Groups at Village level could elect their representatives to the Regional Council Pradeshiya Sabhas, who in turn could elect their representatives to Provincial Council Palath Sabhas. An Electoral College of Representatives composed of Village-Level , Regional-Level and Province-Level leaders could elect electoral representatives to the National Parliament.

Conclusion

The far-sighted reforms proposed in the Mahinda Chintanaya - Futurist Vision to promote National (Deshapremi) Interests while discouraging Anti-National (Deshadrohi) Interests, by permanently embedding Deshapremi Ideology in the National Conciousness, is necessary to focus and sustain the nation's efforts on National Development in the future.

This will bring to a permanent end the adversarial jockeying for power that has plagued Sri Lankan politics in the 62 years since the dawn of independence in 1948.